Monday, March 15, 2010

Luck

Fiona’s Luckby Teresa Bateman and illustrated by Kelly Murphy

Once upon a time there was luck all over the place, because the leprechauns made a lot of it. Then bigger people came to Ireland, and they started taking the luck, too. The leprechauns grew worried that there would not be enough luck left for them. So the king of the leprechauns told them to gather up all of the luck and bring it to him. He would give it out when he wanted to. Unfortunately, the leprechauns took all of the luck, and there was none left for the people. The cows had no milk, hens had no eggs, and the potatoes were no longer growing. Then one day a clever girl named Fiona figures out how to get some of the luck back from the leprechauns. She buys a cow and some chickens. She then pretends to get two buckets of milk from the cow every day, and she brings a basket full of pinecones (covered with a cloth) from the hen house. Soon the other people are all talking about her luck. The leprechaun king soon hears, and he sends leprechauns to bring Fiona to him. He asks her where she got her luck from, and she tells him that she has none. He gives her tests to prove that she is lying, and agrees that if she is not lying he will give her the value of her luck. All of the tests prove that she does not have any luck. Will Fiona be able to get any luck from the king?

Good Luck Bearby Greg Foley

One day as a little bear lies in the grass, he finds a clover with three leaves. Mouse tells him that a clover with four leaves means that he has good luck, and little bear decides that he wants to find one. Monkey tells bear that there is no such thing as a four leaf clover, and turtle tells him that it will take forever to find one. Little Bear still keeps looking, though. Elephant tells him that he saw one, but he cannot remember where, and Squirrel tells him that he likes the three leaf clovers. Little Bear is not able to find a four leaf clover, and he feels very unlucky. Mouse soon calls to Little Bear, but will does Mouse know where a four leaf clover is?

This nonfiction book talks about different discoveries that were made with a little luck. One of the discoveries discussed is Isaac Newton and his discovery of gravity. Isaac Newton was a student at Cambridge University, and he had to leave there when the plague was spreading around England. He spent time on his family’s farm. There he was thinking about the force that kept the moon and planets orbiting around the sun. Then he watched an apple fall off a branch and onto the ground. This inspired him to discover that the force that caused the apple to fall is the same one that made the planets stay in orbit. The force was named “gravity.” He discovered gravity with a little luck that came from an apple. Some other discoveries discussed in the book are anesthesia, penicillin, Pluto, nuclear fission, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Each chapter discusses the people who helped in the discovery and the story of how the discovery came about with a little luck.

The Real Lucky Charmby Charisse K. Richardson

Mia has supported her twin brother, Marcus, at his basketball games. Then she finds out that they are going to let girls play basketball, too. She decides to join, because she also enjoys basketball. Not enough girls sign up to have a girl’s team, and so the boys and girls are combined into one team. She decides to right about the experience in her newspaper. Her dad gives her a basketball charm for her bracelet, and tells her it is like his lucky penny. She rubs her charm like her dad rubbed the penny before her games and finds out that she is pretty good at basketball. It also seems that her basketball charm is good luck for her school work, too. Unfortunately, Mia notices that her charm is missing from her bracelet. Will Mia be able to find her lucky basketball charm? Will she be able to play basketball or do her schoolwork well without it?